An Old School Business Finds a Home in West Babylon

Richard De Vito is always up for a challenge. In the few months his business, Sunrise Sharpening, has been open he’s brought back to life pairs of scissors, knife sets and a large pair of hedge trimmers.

“There’s nothing too large,” De Vito said. “I’m always up for a challenge.”

Maybe because knife sharpening is in his blood. In the late 1960s his grandfather took over an existing cutlery shop in Manhattan. Two decades later De Vito began learning the trade from his grandfather. De Vito’s father ended up opening a store on Long Island, but his grandfather ended up retiring and his father closed the shop. De Vito did other things, even moved to Florida where he started a mobile knife sharpening business.

“I found myself always coming back to it,” De Vito said.

He found himself coming back to Long Island too. De Vito and his wife moved back here a few months ago.

“She wasn’t crazy about Florida,” De Vito said. Who can blame her?

De Vito opened his self-described old school business on Sunrise Highway in West Babylon and so for he says it’s been going well.

“It’s a great location,” he said adding that he gets many of his clients through old-fashioned word of mouth and is excited to keep growing.

“It takes time, but slowly but surely,” De Vito said.

Most sharpening can be done in an hour or so and De Vito said many people who live fairly close will wait in the small shop that has some chairs set up near the counter where people can even watch the sharpening process. Others will drop off items and come back in a few days.

“ Enjoy with the knives and bringing them back to life,” De Vito said.